Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-07-17
The Romance 0f Gold.

The superstitiobs belief is an old
one that unless the discoverer of q
camp meets an untimely or bloody
end his find will never amount to any
thing; and this seems to be borne out
by the facts, since nearly all the Idis-
coverers Of the great gold mineso the
United States, with few exceptions,
have, as the saying goes, "died with
their boots on" OF thirty eight
booming towns j. in the early days,
the locators OF twelve were killed
by bullets, three were buried
in their creations by cave-ins,
and the rest drifted away with
the tide of immigration, have become
lost in Oblivion or. died and, were
buried in paupers' graves. George ii :.
Fryer, from from whom the celebrated
''Fryer's HILL" of Leadyille derives
its name, died at Denver not long ago
from an overdose of morphine admin
istered by his own hand. Two years
previous to his death he, was worth Il
million or so, but he died u pauper
and almost without friend. ,4..u
Old Virginny, after whom the Soon
solidated Virginia" was named, and
who sold his claim for S25, u pony and
a bottle OF whiskey, came to his death
by an overdose from a bucking mule
near Dayton, Nev. -s- .q-,..,
Bill Bodie, the discoverer of the
great Standard mine in Mono county,
California, slept his lie away in n
snowstorm while making his way To
the mines. .., .........- +o.-a
Colonel Story, who gave his name
to the county in Nevada where the
Comstock is situated, was killed in
battle by the Pyramid Lake Indians.
Thos. Page Comstock died a beggar
in strange land. "Old Pancake" "as
he was known in the mining camps,
committed suicide at Bozeman, Mont. !,
on September 9th by shooting him
self. He was the leader OF the fam
GUS Big Horn expedition that was sent
out by Nevada capitalists in search of
the Lost Cabin mines, supposed to be
located somewhere among the Big
Horn mountains. The expedition was
failure, and Comstock, whether from
disappointment or some other cause,
while encamped near Bozeman, drove
aspistol ball through his head and
died instantly. He was buried there,,'
and his grave is unmarked and un-
known. 'ai +--' N'i'. q
Near the wild spot where, twelve
years before, the hidden treasures of
Alder Gulch were first revealed to
him, William Fairyeather was laid
down to rest. Like .oor "Old Pan
cake" this erratic soul stranded on
the shoals of dissipation, although
each in his day had turned d key
the one silver and the other golden
which unlocked the millions for others
but nothing for themselves. William
Farrell, who "struck" Meadow Lake
died victim to remorse in one of the
leading hospitals of San Francisco,
''haunted by the spirits OF a thousand
deiuded pioneers and prospectors pass
ing and repassing his dying bed"
The locator of the famous Homestake,
in the Black Hills, il said to have
afterward turned road a .ent. Times
going hard with him he tempted to
stop stage loaded and prepared for
just such emergencies, and he was
planted alongside of the road by a ten
bCIilttlltCu CApItcS dScilt, NIOiIl llC
had tried to rob and kill. Homer,
Of the Homer district, followed in
the suicidal tracks OF Comstock.
After squandering a small fortune
he shot his brains out in the streets of
San Francisco. Doughnut Bill, sold
Eureka" Kelse Austin, Lloyd Ma
gruder, "Nine-mile Clark" George
Hankinson, Henry Plummer and
scores of others, died violent deaths
in one way and another and reaped
nothing from the rich finds each had
made in his day. Doughnut Bill was
planted in the Lone Mountain ceme-
terry in Utah in 1858; lone grave
under white pine tree in a from
tier mining town Of California |
tells where poor "Old Eure- |
ka'' sleeps his last sleep |
Kelse Austin was killed and buried in |
Elko county, Nevada, fifteen years
ago. rn1.t
Lloyd Magruder, while conducting
a number of wagons loaded with
treasure from Virginia City to the
nearest railroad, was murdered and
robbed by his teamsters, who were
Plummer's outlaws in disguise George |
Hankinson and Henry Plrimmer were |
hauled up by vigilantes and strung
up without delay and formality OF
a trial. Plummer was great rascal
Fine Gold Miner. ~ -